Little is known of the John McCulloch's of Barholm. There were two generations with the same name, John McCulloch senior (d.1788) and his son, John McCulloch junior (b.1740) and it is not clear which one had commissioned Adam for this later scheme. The family were owners of Barholm Castle to the south of Creetown in Kirkdale from the early sixteenth century. The castle appears to have remained their principal home until a new home called Balhazy or Barholm House was built in the late-eighteenth century.

In c.1754, John McCulloch senior commissioned the Adam brothers (John, Robert and James) to design a house for his estate in Barholm which was included as an illustration in Vitruvius Scoticus (pl. 94), though it does not appear to have been executed.

In c.1787-88, Robert Adam was commissioned again to provide designs for a scheme for ‘John McCulloch’, though it is not clear which McCulloch this was for, as John McCulloch senior died in 1788. The scheme shares some similarities with the c.1754 design, comprising a central three-bay block with flanking wings that terminate in single-bay pavilions.

The c.1787-88 scheme appears to have been executed, albeit to a modified design and, according to Rowan, likely without the supervision of Adam. The lateral corridors of the flanking wings shown in the elevation drawings were built at basement level only and the pavilions shown in the elevation drawings and plans were added piecemeal from 1850 in a plain vernacular style and smaller in plan. These drawings were reproduced along with a set of working drawings dated 9 February 1789 and purchased by the National Monuments Record of Scotland. The building was demolished in c.1960.

There is also an undated preliminary design by Robert Adam (SM Adam volume 1/267) included in this scheme which shows an unexecuted variant of the house design with a central block, quadrant wings and walled gardens. Rowan has dated this to c.1787, but there is no clear evidence for this dating.

Literature:
A.T. Bolton, The Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1922, Volume II, Index, p. 3; D. King, The Complete Works of Robert and James Adam and Unbuilt Adam, Volume 1, 2001, pp. 139-141; A Rowan, Designs for Castles and Country Villas by Robert & James Adam, 1985, pp. 16, 68-69, 152-155; W. Adam & J. Simpson (ed.), Vitruvius Scoticus: Plans, Elevations, and Sections of Public Buildings, Noblemen’s and Gentlemen’s Houses in Scotland, 2011, p. 17; National Record of the Historic Environment, ‘Creetown, Barholm House’, Canmore, online [accessed on 24 January 2022]; University of Virginia, John Macculloch of Barholm’ Scottish Court of Session Digital Archive, online [accessed on 24 January 2022]

Louisa Catt, 2022